Wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct (1 Pet. 3:1-2).

After becoming a Christian, “Heather” had faithfully committed to living for her Lord despite the indifference of her husband, “James.” 

As a hardened police captain, he wanted nothing to do with her faith and often mocked it. Still, she honored and loved him for more than thirty years.

I once asked her what kept her living sacrificially for her husband when his gruffness and mockery were so painful. She simply said when she became a Christian, she fell in love with Jesus. That love made her want what Jesus wanted for her husband.

Being subject to a spouse as the Bible requires is never mousy meekness that demeans a woman. The Bible intends courageous, faithful, wise, and persistent living for heaven’s purposes. Such living refuses to cling to bitterness or selfishness, but yields and wields every gift and resource that God provides for the sake of another’s soul. 

Such “yielding and wielding” are living the gospel message with respectful and pure conduct, even when human reasoning and rewards seem far off. 

When thirty years of acting like “Billy goat gruff” did not drive his wife away from her faith or from him, James turned to her God. He had seen the worst of the world in his profession and wanted the realities of another world he had seen in his faithful wife. 

Prayer:
Father, please enable me to live a respectful and pure life in front of my spouse and others, so that they can see the changes Jesus has made in me and be drawn to him.